‘Alarming’ rise in Saudi divorce rate blamed on social media
The New Arab Staff
27 October, 2022
New figures show that there were seven divorces per hour in 2020 in Saudi Arabia, with experts blaming unrealistic portrayals of life provided by social media.
Saudi divorce rates increased by over 12% between 2019 and 2020 [Getty]
Figures released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics have revealed a dramatic rise in the rate of divorce in the Gulf kingdom.
The latest statistics show that in 2020, there were 57,595 divorces – amounting to 168 per day or seven per hour.
This represented a 12.7 percent increase on the rate of divorce in 2019.
Saudi lawyer Dakhil Al-Dakhil told the local Al-Yaum newspaper that there had been only 9,233 divorces in 2010 although in 2011 the number of divorces had gone up to 34,000.
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Al-Yaum reported that one of the factors behind the alarming rise in divorce since 2010 was the effect of social media on society.
Al-Dakhil pointed to the role of social media influencers, telling Al-Yaum that they often gave impractical advice and portrayed life in a way that was too idealized and far removed from reality, giving Saudis unrealistic aspirations.
The lawyer also said that recent increases in the cost of living and the Covid-19 pandemic had also played a major role.
There has been an increase in divorce rates in the Arab world generally in recent years.
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